By Daniela Ellerbeck, FOR SA LegalAdvisor
On Friday, 24 January 2020 theDepartment of Basic Education (DBE) met with school governing body federations and teacher unions(including FEDSAS, NAPTOSA, SAOU, etc.) to discuss ongoing questions andconcerns regarding Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) in public schools. Thismeeting followed the DBE’s meeting with religious and traditional leaders theday before. (For more on the Thursday meeting, see here.)
TheDepartment’s latest statement affirms and consolidates the position which Freedomof Religion South Africa (FOR SA) has fought for – that parental rights andteacher rights (as ultimately exercised through SGBs and teacher unionsrespectively) will continue to be respected and that the status quo ispreserved. What still remains unanswered,is whether or not parents who are nevertheless unwilling for their children tobe taught (certain components of) CSE, will be able to remove their child/renfrom these classes.
Scripted Lesson Plan to be Voluntary:
At the Friday meeting with SGBfederations and teacher unions, the Department reiterated that the curriculumhad not changed – i.e. the CAPS curriculum, of which Life Skills and LifeOrientation form mandatory subjects, remain in place for all public schools.
However, as the stakeholders pointed out, given that section 6A of the Schools Act only gives the Minister the power to determine the minimum outcomes as set forth in the national curriculum statement,[1] and not the power to dictate the sources teachers and/or schools must use to achieve the minimum outcomes, the Department cannot make the Scripted Lesson Plans (SLPs) mandatory.
Despite contradictorystatements the day before (in this regard, see here), the Department agreed.
Thus, while SexualityEducation is a component of the Life Orientation and Life Skillssubjects (which form part of the mandatory CAPS curriculum), the SLPs (i.e. theEducator Guides and Learner Workbooks) are one of many sourcesfor the Sexuality Component that a school and/or teacher can choose from. TheSLPs will, therefore, be optional and not mandatory, and a school and/orteacher can decide that another source is more appropriate to meet the CAPScurriculum’s outcomes (dictated by the Minister) for Life Orientation and LifeSkills.
In other words, the Department’s latestposition is that while the curriculum will remain the same, public schools remainfree to choose the material they want to use to achieve the stated outcomes.
Given that any other position would falloutside of both the Department’s statutory powers and its own polices (mostnotably its White Paper, which confirms that parents are the primary educators oftheir children with the right to be consulted, and to have their childreneducated according to their values and in what they – as parents – believe tobe in the best interests of their children), as well as the huge public outcrythat resulted against CSE in general and the SLPs in particular, the Departmentwill probably not change its position very quickly.
Scripted Lesson Plan Opened Up forPublic Comment:
During the Friday meeting also, the Department’s Deputy Director-General, Dr Granville Whittle, agreed to open the SLPs (available here on the Department’s website) for comment until Friday, 28 February 2020 and we certainly encourage parents, teachers and other interested persons to do so.
Input on the content of the SLPs can be sent to Dr Whittle at whittle.g@dbe.gov.za and buys.q@dbe.gov.za.
[1]Section 6A of the South African Schools Act reads as follows:
Curriculum and assessment:
(1) The Minister must, by notice in the Government Gazette, determine (a) a national curriculum statement indicating the minimum outcomes or standards; and (b) a national process and procedures for the assessment of learner achievement. (2) The curriculum and the process for the assessment of learner achievement contemplated in subsection (1) must be applicable to public and independent schools.
[author] [author_info]Daniela is a duly qualified Attorney of the High Court of South Africa. She obtained a BCom LLB degree from Rhodes University. Daniela first worked for Médecins sans Frontières before completing her articles of clerkship at G van Zyl Attorneys, where she stayed on after being admitted as an attorney and practised, specialising in litigation. Daniela has loved Jesus since she was young and is a member of a local church in Cape Town where she is actively involved. [/author_info] [/author]
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FOR SA currently has a support base of religious leaders and individuals representing +/- 6 million people across a broad spectrum of churches, organisations, denominations and faith groups in South Africa.
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